June 20, 2023 • 9 mins
No cars & no franchises are just a few of the things that set Mackinac Island, Michigan apart from the rest! Tim Hygh, Executive Director of Mackinac Island Tourism, stopped by this week and gave me the inside scoop on what makes this island such a beloved & serene place to visit. From the ferry ride to the island to its gorgeous lilacs, independent shops & hotels, to their diverse dining scene & more, Mackinac Island keeps visitors coming back for years to come. Hear all about Mackinac Island & start planning your trip today by listening to my conversation with Tim Hygh below!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to Whereto Next, a travel podcast. My
name is Francesca, your host,and I'm joined today by Tim High,
executive director of Island Tourism Bureau.Tim. Welcome to the program. Oh,
Francesca, it's nice to mess youon the radio. I wish you
were here in downtown Macina Island alittle bit. You could see what I'm
seeing right now with our ferry boatsarriving in the horses clip clopping up and
(00:21):
down main Street, and people onbicycles and families talking to each other and
no automobiles. It's a great sight. And I wish you were here.
Oh, I wish I was theretoo. I gotta tell you my co
worker, our host of our morningshow here, Laurie DeYoung. She's actually
from Michigan, so her and herhusband just got back from Macina Island literally
last week, so they frequent outthere all the time. I've seen the
most gorgeous pictures and it's such apretty pristine island. And it was named
(00:45):
best Island in the Continental United Statesby Travel and Leisure, which is no
small feat. Why do you thinkthe island has been awarded such an esteemed
honor. I think it has todo with us not having automobiles on Macina
Island. That's one thing, becausewe're also geared to the automobile. Our
lives revolve around them. But whenyou get to Macana that just changes that
kind of rocks your world. Thatyou're not hearing them, you're not hearing
(01:07):
horns beeping. I think that's abig part of it. And then just
how natural Macina Island is. It'skind of like a theme park, but
it's not a thing park. There'snothing that's there's nothing contrived here. When
you pull up on the ferry,you're going to see huge stock horses with
the big dray behind them, probablytaking goods from the dock like food sources
and things like that to the hotelsbecause that's the only way that we could
(01:32):
do transportation around here. So it'sbasically if you need to just kind of
reset and renew your mind, MacanaIsland is the perfect kind of spot for
that. It absolutely is. I'mso elated every time I get to see
photos from Loring of the horses andthe carriages. They're such a statement and
such a throwback to, you know, times of yesteryear. Can you give
(01:53):
us a little history behind that andwhy there are no cars on the island.
I can and it happened one hundredand twenty five years celebrating the anniversary
this year. And what happened wasit was, you know, the invention
of the automobile just below us inDetroit, Michigan and Flint, Michigan,
and those were great hotbeds of manufacturing. But when the automobile started to appear
on Mackinaw Island, they would scarethe horses. So the horsemen of the
(02:15):
island made a safety decision to keephorses off Macina Island. And what that
really turned into was probably the mostgenius marketing decision ever made. You're telling
me, yeah, and we're benefitingfrom it today. I think it's so
cool because there's almost nowhere that youcan go these days without a car.
That's absolutely true, but this isone of them. And I think again,
(02:38):
when you ask why is it catchingon Macina Island, I think that's
the biggest reason. Absolutely. TimHigh, executive director of Mackinaw Island Tourism
Bureau. I don't think this morningtalking about island in Michigan Island dot org
is where you want to go forall the information and to start planning your
trip today. And what a quaint, cute little island. Now, Tim,
do you think you could elaborate onwhat makes Machina Island is such a
(03:00):
fabulous place to visit and what bringsvisitors back year after year? I can.
We have two historic districts here thatkeep the island protected from development.
Where a National Landmark, which isa nice designation to also have, and
that comes with some historical boundaries asfar as what you can and can't do
as far as the development goes.So that protects us and people come here
(03:22):
and kind of make a memory,then they try to come back and make
that memory again. I think theother thing too, that makes us so
different is that we don't have anyfranchises on Macina Island except for Starbucks,
which really isn't this franchise, it'sa license. Well you got to have
a Starbucks, I mean, comeon, yeah, I know, I
know, right, We tend toget away with that one. But the
(03:46):
hotels are all different, the restaurantsare all different, the shops are all
different. And no franchises, soyou're not going to see a merry out
of here, and you're not goingto see other stores that you might see,
you know, on the mainland.So that's another thing that makes it
different. Everywhere you turn, yoursenses are going to see something that you're
not used to singing at home,so fun. I really love those places
(04:10):
because they are few and far betweennowadays with modern technology and all of those
sorts of things. I really enjoyplaces like that. And I know that
you touched a little bit on nofranchises, so we're not going to see
any franchise restaurants or shopping anything likethat. So I would love to talk
a little bit about the best spotson the island to grab a bite and
the shopping that you can get intoon Macina Island. Well sure, well
let's talk about eating first, becausewhy not. And there's such a diverse
(04:34):
restaurant seen here. From being ableto eat on the water and watching the
ferries come in and the freighters goby in the cruise ships, who have
ninety two cruise ships that will becoming to the island this year and they're
always fun to watch. From thatkind of a scene to fine dining,
and there are three or four optionson Macina Island for fine dining. A
lot of great classic pub options upand down main Street, and at nighttime
(05:00):
it's a little mini New Orleans wherethere's live entertainment up and down main Street.
You just kind of walk up anddown main Street and open the door,
put your ear and see if thatmight be the style for you this
evening. And lots of options there, so from sunrise to sunset, lots
of eating options, and of coursethey also come with the entertainment value absolutely,
and I know from Lorie I havea very good firsthand sor there's some
(05:20):
fabulous shopping on the island as well. I just take my hat off to
all the shop owners on Mack onthe island because they are so creative and
they try to bring in things thatyou're not going to find everywhere else.
And for just a six month season, it's a little gutsy, you know,
you only have six months to onceyou buy it to sell it.
So very true, you know itisn't so this is like an entrepreneurial capital
(05:44):
here as well. On Mac andthe island. People they care deeply about
what they're selling, what they're curating, what they're bringing up to display on
main street. And they're all quitesuccessful too, so they must be pretty
darn good at it. They mustbe absolutely Tim High, Executive director of
Magana Island Tourism Bureau, online atMacna Island dot org to learn everything you
need to know, to get allof the information and to start planning your
(06:06):
trip today Magna Island. They definitelyhave something for everyone over there, for
sure, and I saw quite animpressive list of annual island events. I
love for you to tell me alittle bit about some of the most popular
events and then some of your personalfavorites. Unlike Washington, DC, in
the Baltimore area, the mid Atlanticarea are lilacs just start to bloom the
(06:26):
first of June. So we celebratethat every year with a huge Lilac festival
that's ten days every June. Andthe reason we do that is because there
are over three hundred varieties of lilacson Macana Island. For some reason,
they're not native to Macana Island,but once they got here and grew here,
if you wanted to stay right thegirl with the passions, and people
from all over the world will sendus different variety. So now we have
(06:49):
been able to cultivate over three hundredvarieties of Lilacs on Macina Island, so
that's the first big festival. Andthen on July fourth, you know,
this is America at its best,where we start the morning with our zone
skipping contest, which is a greatfamily event, but we have professional stone
skippers that come in every year andthat's always fun to watch. And then
(07:11):
two fireworks displays on Barges and theStraits of Macinon and you from Mackina Island
you can see chore works from fiveother neighboring communities. It's it's such a
great spot. And of course that'sso that's July fourth, the last weekend
every year before Labor Day we celebratethe Fudge Festival because macin Island is also
the fudge capital of the world.You can google it. We have thirteen
(07:36):
fudge stores up and down Main Streetand they make fudge the Mackinaw Island Way
where they boil it up and abeaten up copper kettle and they pour it
onto a marble slab and then theyneed it into an incredible Mackinaw Island fudge.
And the fun thing about that isis that when you're walking up and
(07:56):
down Main Street, they have exhaustsystems that go from where they're boiling the
fudge out to the sidewalk, sothat all of a sudden you're walking down
the street and you smell this incrediblearoma of fudge being boiled before they put
it onto the marble table. Itsounds like paradise on Earth. It is.
I mean, between the lilacs andthe fudge, your senses are just
(08:16):
to live up and down Main Streeton macin Off, And so that's what
we do. We'll celebrate that.The last weekend of August every year is
our fudge Festival, and then wekind of wrapped the season up the weekend
typically before Halloween, with a bigblowout for the season. It's our own
island Halloween festivities. And the retailersare putting things on deep deep sale because
(08:37):
they don't want to store it allwinter or ship it off the island,
and the employees are ready for anice sendoff, and it's just a great
way to end the season. Ilove it. Tim High, executive director
of Machina Island Tourism Bureau online aMagina Island dot org. All the information
you could need, all of yourquestions can be answered there, and of
course you can start planning your triptoday. Tim, I want to thank
(08:58):
you so much for taking some timeand give us a little inside scoop on
Mackinaw Island. And I gotta tellyou, I think it might be my
next little trip. Oh. Ihope so, Francesco. I hope we
filled your head with lots of visionsso that or motivate you to get here.
Trust me, you will not regret. I'm excited. Thanks again,
Tim, Thank you
Good morning, and welcome to Whereto Next, a travel podcast. My
name is Francesca, your host,and I'm joined today by Tim High,
executive director of Island Tourism Bureau.Tim. Welcome to the program. Oh,
Francesca, it's nice to mess youon the radio. I wish you
were here in downtown Macina Island alittle bit. You could see what I'm
seeing right now with our ferry boatsarriving in the horses clip clopping up and
(00:21):
down main Street, and people onbicycles and families talking to each other and
no automobiles. It's a great sight. And I wish you were here.
Oh, I wish I was theretoo. I gotta tell you my co
worker, our host of our morningshow here, Laurie DeYoung. She's actually
from Michigan, so her and herhusband just got back from Macina Island literally
last week, so they frequent outthere all the time. I've seen the
most gorgeous pictures and it's such apretty pristine island. And it was named
(00:45):
best Island in the Continental United Statesby Travel and Leisure, which is no
small feat. Why do you thinkthe island has been awarded such an esteemed
honor. I think it has todo with us not having automobiles on Macina
Island. That's one thing, becausewe're also geared to the automobile. Our
lives revolve around them. But whenyou get to Macana that just changes that
kind of rocks your world. Thatyou're not hearing them, you're not hearing
(01:07):
horns beeping. I think that's abig part of it. And then just
how natural Macina Island is. It'skind of like a theme park, but
it's not a thing park. There'snothing that's there's nothing contrived here. When
you pull up on the ferry,you're going to see huge stock horses with
the big dray behind them, probablytaking goods from the dock like food sources
and things like that to the hotelsbecause that's the only way that we could
(01:32):
do transportation around here. So it'sbasically if you need to just kind of
reset and renew your mind, MacanaIsland is the perfect kind of spot for
that. It absolutely is. I'mso elated every time I get to see
photos from Loring of the horses andthe carriages. They're such a statement and
such a throwback to, you know, times of yesteryear. Can you give
(01:53):
us a little history behind that andwhy there are no cars on the island.
I can and it happened one hundredand twenty five years celebrating the anniversary
this year. And what happened wasit was, you know, the invention
of the automobile just below us inDetroit, Michigan and Flint, Michigan,
and those were great hotbeds of manufacturing. But when the automobile started to appear
on Mackinaw Island, they would scarethe horses. So the horsemen of the
(02:15):
island made a safety decision to keephorses off Macina Island. And what that
really turned into was probably the mostgenius marketing decision ever made. You're telling
me, yeah, and we're benefitingfrom it today. I think it's so
cool because there's almost nowhere that youcan go these days without a car.
That's absolutely true, but this isone of them. And I think again,
(02:38):
when you ask why is it catchingon Macina Island, I think that's
the biggest reason. Absolutely. TimHigh, executive director of Mackinaw Island Tourism
Bureau. I don't think this morningtalking about island in Michigan Island dot org
is where you want to go forall the information and to start planning your
trip today. And what a quaint, cute little island. Now, Tim,
do you think you could elaborate onwhat makes Machina Island is such a
(03:00):
fabulous place to visit and what bringsvisitors back year after year? I can.
We have two historic districts here thatkeep the island protected from development.
Where a National Landmark, which isa nice designation to also have, and
that comes with some historical boundaries asfar as what you can and can't do
as far as the development goes.So that protects us and people come here
(03:22):
and kind of make a memory,then they try to come back and make
that memory again. I think theother thing too, that makes us so
different is that we don't have anyfranchises on Macina Island except for Starbucks,
which really isn't this franchise, it'sa license. Well you got to have
a Starbucks, I mean, comeon, yeah, I know, I
know, right, We tend toget away with that one. But the
(03:46):
hotels are all different, the restaurantsare all different, the shops are all
different. And no franchises, soyou're not going to see a merry out
of here, and you're not goingto see other stores that you might see,
you know, on the mainland.So that's another thing that makes it
different. Everywhere you turn, yoursenses are going to see something that you're
not used to singing at home,so fun. I really love those places
(04:10):
because they are few and far betweennowadays with modern technology and all of those
sorts of things. I really enjoyplaces like that. And I know that
you touched a little bit on nofranchises, so we're not going to see
any franchise restaurants or shopping anything likethat. So I would love to talk
a little bit about the best spotson the island to grab a bite and
the shopping that you can get intoon Macina Island. Well sure, well
let's talk about eating first, becausewhy not. And there's such a diverse
(04:34):
restaurant seen here. From being ableto eat on the water and watching the
ferries come in and the freighters goby in the cruise ships, who have
ninety two cruise ships that will becoming to the island this year and they're
always fun to watch. From thatkind of a scene to fine dining,
and there are three or four optionson Macina Island for fine dining. A
lot of great classic pub options upand down main Street, and at nighttime
(05:00):
it's a little mini New Orleans wherethere's live entertainment up and down main Street.
You just kind of walk up anddown main Street and open the door,
put your ear and see if thatmight be the style for you this
evening. And lots of options there, so from sunrise to sunset, lots
of eating options, and of coursethey also come with the entertainment value absolutely,
and I know from Lorie I havea very good firsthand sor there's some
(05:20):
fabulous shopping on the island as well. I just take my hat off to
all the shop owners on Mack onthe island because they are so creative and
they try to bring in things thatyou're not going to find everywhere else.
And for just a six month season, it's a little gutsy, you know,
you only have six months to onceyou buy it to sell it.
So very true, you know itisn't so this is like an entrepreneurial capital
(05:44):
here as well. On Mac andthe island. People they care deeply about
what they're selling, what they're curating, what they're bringing up to display on
main street. And they're all quitesuccessful too, so they must be pretty
darn good at it. They mustbe absolutely Tim High, Executive director of
Magana Island Tourism Bureau, online atMacna Island dot org to learn everything you
need to know, to get allof the information and to start planning your
(06:06):
trip today Magna Island. They definitelyhave something for everyone over there, for
sure, and I saw quite animpressive list of annual island events. I
love for you to tell me alittle bit about some of the most popular
events and then some of your personalfavorites. Unlike Washington, DC, in
the Baltimore area, the mid Atlanticarea are lilacs just start to bloom the
(06:26):
first of June. So we celebratethat every year with a huge Lilac festival
that's ten days every June. Andthe reason we do that is because there
are over three hundred varieties of lilacson Macana Island. For some reason,
they're not native to Macana Island,but once they got here and grew here,
if you wanted to stay right thegirl with the passions, and people
from all over the world will sendus different variety. So now we have
(06:49):
been able to cultivate over three hundredvarieties of Lilacs on Macina Island, so
that's the first big festival. Andthen on July fourth, you know,
this is America at its best,where we start the morning with our zone
skipping contest, which is a greatfamily event, but we have professional stone
skippers that come in every year andthat's always fun to watch. And then
(07:11):
two fireworks displays on Barges and theStraits of Macinon and you from Mackina Island
you can see chore works from fiveother neighboring communities. It's it's such a
great spot. And of course that'sso that's July fourth, the last weekend
every year before Labor Day we celebratethe Fudge Festival because macin Island is also
the fudge capital of the world.You can google it. We have thirteen
(07:36):
fudge stores up and down Main Streetand they make fudge the Mackinaw Island Way
where they boil it up and abeaten up copper kettle and they pour it
onto a marble slab and then theyneed it into an incredible Mackinaw Island fudge.
And the fun thing about that isis that when you're walking up and
(07:56):
down Main Street, they have exhaustsystems that go from where they're boiling the
fudge out to the sidewalk, sothat all of a sudden you're walking down
the street and you smell this incrediblearoma of fudge being boiled before they put
it onto the marble table. Itsounds like paradise on Earth. It is.
I mean, between the lilacs andthe fudge, your senses are just
(08:16):
to live up and down Main Streeton macin Off, And so that's what
we do. We'll celebrate that.The last weekend of August every year is
our fudge Festival, and then wekind of wrapped the season up the weekend
typically before Halloween, with a bigblowout for the season. It's our own
island Halloween festivities. And the retailersare putting things on deep deep sale because
(08:37):
they don't want to store it allwinter or ship it off the island,
and the employees are ready for anice sendoff, and it's just a great
way to end the season. Ilove it. Tim High, executive director
of Machina Island Tourism Bureau online aMagina Island dot org. All the information
you could need, all of yourquestions can be answered there, and of
course you can start planning your triptoday. Tim, I want to thank
(08:58):
you so much for taking some timeand give us a little inside scoop on
Mackinaw Island. And I gotta tellyou, I think it might be my
next little trip. Oh. Ihope so, Francesco. I hope we
filled your head with lots of visionsso that or motivate you to get here.
Trust me, you will not regret. I'm excited. Thanks again,
Tim, Thank you
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